Cherishing William O’s Memory
Eleanor and William O lived a beautiful and exciting life together. They lived in several countries, including the USA and Saudi Arabia, but always considered Niagara to be home. They loved going to their favourite restaurant, Mai Thai, and spoiling their children and grandchildren when they visited them at their Niagara Falls home.
Life was good, so when William started experiencing back pain, he didn’t think much of it. Nobody did. “He was a healthy man,” says Eleanor. “He went to his family doctor regularly and looked after himself. So it was treated like back pain; there was no reason to suspect anything more.” After trying to address the back pain with physiotherapy and chiropractor visits without success, William’s family doctor ordered him an MRI in Mississauga.
“That was hard for me to comprehend,” Eleanor remembers. “The availability was so bad locally that we had to drive to Mississauga with a man who had severe back pain… that was ridiculous to me.” Eager to find the source of William’s pain, they made the trip. “When the MRI results came back to our family doctor, it was clear something wasn’t right.”
More tests and imaging followed, and William began attending a pain clinic. “There was a period when everyone was waiting for test results to figure out the next steps, and his pain was just getting very severe,” Eleanor remembers. “And then we found out that William had cancer.” Referred to the Walker Family Cancer Centre (WFCC), William received care from Dr. Hallock and her team. “She was so wonderful. She was very generous with her time. William obviously wasn’t her only patient. Yet, whenever we had questions or wanted my daughter to join virtually, she was always present and helpful, and happy to answer our questions. We were really grateful for that.”
Dr. Hallock ordered a CT scan to determine the source of William’s cancer and “the prognosis wasn’t good. It had started in his lungs but it had spread to his bones, his brain…” After seeing the CT images, Dr. Hallock told William he only had about four more weeks to live. “When we heard that, we just wanted to go home. There was talk of possibly doing a biopsy but it would not have changed the outcome, so we just wanted to go home.”
Eleanor and William left the hospital at around 5:30 p.m., and by the time they got home, everything was arranged for them. “The hospital was so great with that transition. By the time we got to go home, they had everything arranged – the Personal Support Worker (PSW), the grief counsellor, the bed came by 7 p.m., the oxygen tank… everything was arranged. The Community Care Coordinators were so on top of it. It was just amazing.”
For Eleanor, having these arrangements made by the Ontario Health atHome team meant she could be with her husband instead of planning or arranging his care during those last four weeks. “They didn’t just think about the patients; they also thought about the families. The instructions were very clear; the PSW was there. My journey with him for the four weeks was hard, of course, but without that help, it would have been so much worse.”
William spent the last few weeks of his life surrounded by people who loved him and in the early morning of December 9, 2023, he passed away in his home. He was just 69 years old.
“How long you live doesn’t matter as much as what you do with it,” said Eleanor. “If you live to be 100 but weren’t doing what you wanted in life, it really doesn’t matter. He had children, grandchildren. He got to travel and enjoy the finer things in life… he had a really good life.”
Following William’s passing, Eleanor made a generous donation in support of the WFCC and collected further donations from friends and family members at William’s Celebration of Life. “The staff at the hospital and the WFCC were so wonderful. Everybody was so kind and generous with their time. That’s why I thought that while the outcome was bad, and nothing can reverse that, I should show my appreciation to them.”
Knowing that her donation will support the purchase of equipment is important to Eleanor. ”We had no idea these machines didn’t come from the government. I was shocked that the family doctor sent us to Mississauga because that was the only available place. Going through all of that is the inspiration for my donations. It’s not for one particular person but for anybody who needs it. We never thought this would happen to us, so I want to remind people that just because you don’t need it today, doesn’t mean you or someone you love may not need it tomorrow.”
Today, Eleanor is slowly figuring out life without her husband of more than 40 years. She is grateful for the time she had with him and the support they had from Niagara Health at the end of his life.
“I praise their staff for all that they give. Anybody can just do their job but they put 100% into it. They had sympathy, empathy, kindness, and when people are in the hospital, kindness is the most important thing. If they can go that little extra mile for another person, then that is wonderful, and they did that for us.”
Cherishing William O’s Memory
Eleanor and William O lived a beautiful and exciting life together. They lived in several countries, including the USA and Saudi Arabia, but always considered Niagara to be home. They loved going to their favourite restaurant, Mai Thai, and spoiling their children and grandchildren when they visited them at their Niagara Falls home.
Life was good, so when William started experiencing back pain, he didn’t think much of it. Nobody did. “He was a healthy man,” says Eleanor. “He went to his family doctor regularly and looked after himself. So it was treated like back pain; there was no reason to suspect anything more.” After trying to address the back pain with physiotherapy and chiropractor visits without success, William’s family doctor ordered him an MRI in Mississauga.
“That was hard for me to comprehend,” Eleanor remembers. “The availability was so bad locally that we had to drive to Mississauga with a man who had severe back pain… that was ridiculous to me.” Eager to find the source of William’s pain, they made the trip. “When the MRI results came back to our family doctor, it was clear something wasn’t right.”
More tests and imaging followed, and William began attending a pain clinic. “There was a period when everyone was waiting for test results to figure out the next steps, and his pain was just getting very severe,” Eleanor remembers. “And then we found out that William had cancer.” Referred to the Walker Family Cancer Centre (WFCC), William received care from Dr. Hallock and her team. “She was so wonderful. She was very generous with her time. William obviously wasn’t her only patient. Yet, whenever we had questions or wanted my daughter to join virtually, she was always present and helpful, and happy to answer our questions. We were really grateful for that.”
Dr. Hallock ordered a CT scan to determine the source of William’s cancer and “the prognosis wasn’t good. It had started in his lungs but it had spread to his bones, his brain…” After seeing the CT images, Dr. Hallock told William he only had about four more weeks to live. “When we heard that, we just wanted to go home. There was talk of possibly doing a biopsy but it would not have changed the outcome, so we just wanted to go home.”
Eleanor and William left the hospital at around 5:30 p.m., and by the time they got home, everything was arranged for them. “The hospital was so great with that transition. By the time we got to go home, they had everything arranged – the Personal Support Worker (PSW), the grief counsellor, the bed came by 7 p.m., the oxygen tank… everything was arranged. The Community Care Coordinators were so on top of it. It was just amazing.”
For Eleanor, having these arrangements made by the Ontario Health atHome team meant she could be with her husband instead of planning or arranging his care during those last four weeks. “They didn’t just think about the patients; they also thought about the families. The instructions were very clear; the PSW was there. My journey with him for the four weeks was hard, of course, but without that help, it would have been so much worse.”
William spent the last few weeks of his life surrounded by people who loved him and in the early morning of December 9, 2023, he passed away in his home. He was just 69 years old.
“How long you live doesn’t matter as much as what you do with it,” said Eleanor. “If you live to be 100 but weren’t doing what you wanted in life, it really doesn’t matter. He had children, grandchildren. He got to travel and enjoy the finer things in life… he had a really good life.”
Following William’s passing, Eleanor made a generous donation in support of the WFCC and collected further donations from friends and family members at William’s Celebration of Life. “The staff at the hospital and the WFCC were so wonderful. Everybody was so kind and generous with their time. That’s why I thought that while the outcome was bad, and nothing can reverse that, I should show my appreciation to them.”
Knowing that her donation will support the purchase of equipment is important to Eleanor. ”We had no idea these machines didn’t come from the government. I was shocked that the family doctor sent us to Mississauga because that was the only available place. Going through all of that is the inspiration for my donations. It’s not for one particular person but for anybody who needs it. We never thought this would happen to us, so I want to remind people that just because you don’t need it today, doesn’t mean you or someone you love may not need it tomorrow.”
Today, Eleanor is slowly figuring out life without her husband of more than 40 years. She is grateful for the time she had with him and the support they had from Niagara Health at the end of his life.
“I praise their staff for all that they give. Anybody can just do their job but they put 100% into it. They had sympathy, empathy, kindness, and when people are in the hospital, kindness is the most important thing. If they can go that little extra mile for another person, then that is wonderful, and they did that for us.”
